Data from: Solar energy resource availability under extreme and historical wildfire smoke conditions

The data in this repository are used to generate the figures in the article "Solar energy resource availability under extreme and historical wildfire smoke conditions" by Corwin et al. (accepted 2024) in Nature Communications. Data are the final processessed and merged datasets sourced from the following publicly available data products:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) (https://nsrdb.nrel.gov/).

Bulk download in July 2023 via AWS: https://registry.opendata.aws/nrel-pds-nsrdb/

Variables: modeled irradiance (clear-sky and all-sky direct normal (DNI) and global horizontal (GHI) irradiance, aerosol optical depth, and cloud optical depth

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Hazard Mapping System (HMS) smoke product.

Access: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/land/hms.html#maps

Variables: smoke plume locations

National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) aerosol product (MCD19A2 MODIS/Terra + Aqua land aerosol optical depth daily L2G Global 1km SIN Grid V006). 

Access: https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/mcd19a2v006/

Variables: aerosol optical depth and cloud mask

NASA's Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) cloud data product (SYN1deg-1Hour Edition 4.1)

Access: https://ceres-tool.larc.nasa.gov/ord-tool/jsp/SYN1degEd41Selection.jsp

Variables: cloud optical depth

A detailed description of the data processing methods used to produce the final merged data are available in the article by Corwin et al. 

Associated code scripts are located in the linked code repository.